The ice-hoppers - Maria Stenzel - Wildlife Photographer of the Year2007

2007: Behaviour: Birds - Highly Commended

Maria Stenzel Enlarge image The ice-hoppers

Maria Stenzel (United States of America)

The ice-hoppers

'I was shooting from the boat, on an unusually calm, sunny morning. Weaving among the icebergs, we could see chinstraps everywhere, many of them perched on the ice, resting from feeding or, in the case of juveniles, probably just hanging out. They are incredible athletes, able to scale the steepest of slopes, digging into the ice with their crampon-like claws.' The South Sandwich Islands are home to the world's largest colony of chinstrap penguins. Every summer, two million or so pairs arrive on the island of Zavodovski. They immediately start mating and laying eggs. This gives them time to raise their chicks before winter. They fatten the chicks on krill, small prawn-like crustaceans in the sea, before winter comes and the ocean freezes over.

Canon EOS 1D Mark II N + zoom lens at 115mm; 1/4000 sec at f8; ISO 400.

This photograph is available to buy as a print.